One of the reasons I set up this blog is to give a wider audience to the Sunday School art that Naomi Friend created for the Sunday school classes we taught together and, more generally, promote the idea of integrating visual art and music into adult Sunday school. Our classes received some coverage in The Banner (online version here), but most of the art itself has been previously viewable only on my Facebook page.

Our artistic focus developed through providence rather than planning. Last fall (2012) Trinity needed another adult Sunday school class so I volunteered to teach one on whatever topic was chosen by whoever showed up. The group chose Minor Prophets so next week I came ready to lead a discussion on Joel, and Naomi brought paper and pens and told people to make art. People drew pictures of locusts, rent hearts and the like. I told Naomi she should bring an easel next week and draw a picture herself so she did. I still like the idea of having everyone in a Sunday school class create art, but after Naomi started drawing, everyone else stopped.

Each of the pieces of Naomi drew was created during an hour-long Sunday school class while she was intermittently discussing her work and fielding ideas from the class. Watching her draw and discussing her drawings brought to life the books we discussed, as I hope to show by posting her work. (Images of Naomi’s professional art can be found at naomifriend.com.)

This is Naomi’s Jonah drawing (click for larger version). In the foreground are a drowning Jonah, the ship and the large fish/whale. Out of the whale’s tail are the two other living creatures “appointed”/“provided” by God: the vine/gourd that shelters Jonah and the evil-looking weevil/worm that eats the gourd. Jonah sits under the gourd shaking his fist at the repenting Ninevites.

In future posts, I’m going to show the 20-some drawings Naomi drew for our classes on Minor Prophets and the Parables of Jesus, as well as discuss how we attempted to incorporate music into the classes.